It's not too surprising that Roger Federer is there, considering that he has residence in Dubai. And if you think that the tournament directors were suprised to find him at the door you are kidding yourself. There is no doubt that they want him there, whether he is playing or not.

that is so crazy that ppl are saying these things about federer. the guy most definitely got invited. if i was hosting a tennis party i would most definitely want the arguably best tennis player ever to be there! he lives there, why wouldn't he come? i'm sure that unlike the people commenting on here, the players and organizers were actually happy to have him there.

From my perspective, I don't doubt for a minute the organizers and other ballers wanted him there. My point is his appearance at the party after he pulled out of the tourney for injury concerns sends a bad message and doesn't help the idea that sometimes these cries of "injury" and "I need a break because of it" are false.

And coupled with his trainer's supposed quote that he's in fact not injured doesn't help either.

I remember Shrieka getting flack for that last year at the US Open - why is she doing these appearances, I thought she was injured? And she was pretty injured. A lot of them do it - ReRe went surfing, Rafa was waterskiing or something last year.

So it works both ways. I'm sure he doesn't care - he lives there, they may have paid him an appearance fee of some sort, so why not?

So, does Nadal shooting commercials while injured send the same message, because I would imagine that to shoot a commercial stresses the body to the same degree as going to a party. The same for Sharapova. It's ridiculus to think that a player's injury, which prevents them from playing tennis, or maybe they can still play, but it is better to live low-impact for a while to give the body time to repair so that one might compete at their highest level, and to preserve their body for longevity. Sports injuries are hardly ever torn-this, or fractured-that.

An injury need not be debilitating to justify withdrawal from a tournament, though a player may well be fit enough for "ordinary" social engagements, like shooting commercials and going to tourney parties. These things are part and parcel of their job, and we limit our perspective and lose a sense of proportion and appreciation, by not understanding this.

Roger withdrew from Dubai with an injury. He attended the players’ party. These facts are not mutually exclusive. The message being sent, if any, is that he has the admirable good sense to enjoy the few pleasures to be had on the gruelling, high-pressured, mind-numbingly monotonous treadmill that is the pro tennis circuit.

You can probably count on the fingers of one hand the number of tournaments Federer has withdrawn from through injury, so he’s no Monday morning faker. He’s played (and won) far more tennis matches than he’s been to parties, which means he’s no freeloading hedonist either.

Year in, year out, the man has busted his buns for our entertainment. The pro tennis cause isn’t served by anyone begrudging him his own.

he's a pretty precious jewel in the game of pro tennis..there's no doubt about that. and i agree with Darcey completely. very well put. and i don't think that the post was sensitive, it was quite rational and logical.